For many unfortunately it has. The question is why? Before I get started, if you have lost your job or have lost a serious amount of your income I don’t want to offend your need to cut back or make light of your situation, but if you have been frighten into believing that fine jewelry is a selfish indulgence and you have been duped all these years by buying it by large conglomerates to your small mom and pop jeweler, I take offense and issue with who now is making your buying decisions for you.

By the shear fact that gold and diamonds and high end gemstones have gone through the roof should let you know that in these poor economic times your jewelry is maybe the only thing you own that has gone up in value. But value is not what I am talking about. Longevity is. As I have stated before finely crafted high quality gems and jewelry have always with stood the test of time. It is one of the few things you own that a descendant of yours may be able to put on and say grandma or great grandma from another time or place wore. These are your heir looms and not some momentary indulgence. Their was a story I once came across regarding the history of one of NYC largest diamond houses that I want to share with you now.

During the early part of of World War II as Germany was closing it’s borders and not allowing any Jews to leave the country. A Young Pregnant Jewish woman and her husband came up to a border check point with their fake IDs in hand. The border guard recognize the IDs as fake and plan to turn them over to police. With all their assets seized and their bank accounts frozen she took her diamond engagement ring off her hand and put it in the guards hand. With out a word spoken the guard gesture for them to move through to safe passage and one young family was speared what was most certain death. The rest of that couples family according to the son born of that women was never heard from again.

This may be a dramatic story but in the over thirty five years I have worked in the fine jewelry industry the shear indifference and lack of understanding for the effort, energy and rarity of both the metals and gemstones that I am seeing today is mind blowing to me. I would go as far as to say there is a lack of respect for maybe the oldest manufacturing industry. What other industries are providing you with something you can enjoy everyday then pass it on? What do you own that could possibly out live you 10 fold? The largest mistake someone can make about the fine jewelry industry is because it is fashionable it is trendy. Truly high quality expertly crafted jewelry is not trendy it is trend setting. All the poor quality knock offs are trendy.

I never get tired of seeing the works of of great jewelry artisans. Owning special wonderfully unique pieces made with exquisite materials will enrich you many times their cost. I guarantee it.

After doing some very superficial research my conclusion is “yep it looks that way”. Before I get into why I feel this way and what are the possible outcomes from this behavior, let me start by saying the future is still very blind.

It seems that selling your old unused jewelry has become the national pass time, and for good reason. Gold has hit an all time high crossing $1570 an ounce. It looks like it may even go higher. Although competition is stiff for your families heirlooms still I find many sellers getting the short end of the deal. So why is this? Although gold is high, many buyers use varying formulas to determine how much they are willing to pay. They calculate the the weight of the gold, multiply by its purity and deduct the smelters percent and any fees, and then discount for their profit.

In these times of smaller discretionary income fashion or bridge jewelry has become very popular purchasing option from former fine jewelry purchasers. However these new shoppers of fashion jewelry are not completely aware of the limitations of these pieces. Although they are made to look and sometimes feel like their real counter parts Continue reading →

Their has been a lot of discussion from my clients about the gold price and it’s effect on the cost of the jewelry. Some have told me they are waiting for gold to go back down. Others have said it is just not worth it. I would simply say: what gives gold it’s value are two things. It’s unique characteristics. It’s color, luster, malleability, and it’s non corrosive nature. The other is the value of the all mighty dollar.